Monday, April 7, 2014

Perspectives on life and... WE DID IT....We really did it!

This entry might be a little repetitive and contain some content from previous entries but one thing you must know is that this blogpost is written from the heart and contains some things that I probably haven't talked about for a very long time. There has been so many things surrounding Super Arcade and my personal life for the past couple months that many people will never go through or experience. I see a lot of people joke around with the hashtag "#thestruggleisreal" but I know that most of you honestly have no clue as to what a real struggle is. For those of you who think you have it bad or feel like life is short changing you in any way, shape, or form, think again. Just take a look at our own community and you will see things that should make me love and respect what you have even more. Now I'm not here to ask you to sympathize for me as I do not have any health issues or mental issues as of yet, but I do wish more people would understand how truly rough it is out there for some. I mean hell, we have a competitive gamer out there using his tongue to do things with a controller that many of you can't achieve with 2 fully functional hands. If that isn't inspiration enough for you then nothing will be. As you have seen from my kickstarter video, I mention autism and for those who know me closely, I have a huge soft spot for people with this problem and disabilities in general. If you are complaining about life and how you don't have this or have that, honestly, take a few moments and think about what you do have and how some people would only wish to be in your shoes.

Now onto how this whole ordeal has completely humbled me and how the past couple years have really turned my life and perspective on life around. I will be first to say that I have lived a very fortunate and full life up to this point. I am an only child and at a young age I was given a lot of things many kids wished they had. I was raised by parents who made me earn those things I wanted but still taught me how to value a dollar and work for what I want. And I think that having these values instilled in me at a young age led me to be the person I am today. I work hard, harder than many of you see or could even believe. I put in around 60 hours a week on average at the arcade and there is a funny joke that will come out of this. For the past half a year or so we have had a volunteer working for us here at Super Arcade that goes by the name Gerikuso. He knows we don't make much money so he offered his services to us and in exchange I offer him rides home and food as compensation. Well one night we worked out the numbers and he basically figured out with food costs and all, he was working for something like .60c an hour. The funny thing was that month I made roughly .06c an hour and told him he should feel special. He makes 10 times more than the CEO of Super Arcade lol......... Anyways, if you see Geri at the arcade be nice to him! He works hard and does it for the love of arcades and the FGC.

So yeah, we took a leap of faith and did a kickstarter, and guess what? It worked! People still ask me why I set go for 45 days instead of the standard 30 so I will explain once again. This was a last hurrah in a sense and something I have been a part of for over 3 years. If the kickstarter failed then ultimately Super Arcade was going to close 30 days after. I was basically just dragging it out as much as possible and also giving the kickstarter more time to stand a chance had it not received so much support. So there you have it, I was scared and I dragged it out. Regardless, after this long journey WE MADE IT. With the help and support of everyone this dream is really going to come true, but there are some things I would like to straighten out before I go any further. Some people are saying congrats for making over $40,000 and congrats on the big score. Let me tell you this guys, just about every penny of the kickstarter is going towards the arcade and renovations. Some of it will cover the lease while we are not operational while most is going towards parts and labor. I did not run a kickstarter to line my pockets. This project is funded and carefully so with lots and lots of preparation in regards to gathering accurate estimates and drawing up a plan with a timeline. So no, I did not hit the lottery, but I did accomplish step 1 in rebuilding and moving Super Arcade into the future. Even if we hit our stretch goal(s), the rest of the money will be used to get more and more games into the place. The only time I will ever be compensated is when this arcade flourishes from all the changes and new business, and even at that point I will still be pumping that money back in to make it that much better. So I hope those of you out there don't keep this wrong idea of what is really going on. I would also like to let people know that if you are a contributor and wish to see receipts or have any questions, I am always available to answer them. If you are just a troll don't bother asking me to see anything or open my books because you have no right to them.

We still have a stretch goal of $52,000 to hit and 24 days left. If we make it.... cool, but at this point I'm chalking this project up as a success and getting ready to start moving forward with more designing and planning. Only cause of such tremendous support and help, you guys made it happen, thank you very very much, and make sure you come check out the arcade sometime after July 2014. Now it's finally time I can get some well needed rest and sleep comfortably without worrying if the arcade will continue to exist. Talk to you all again soon!

2 comments:

Congrats Mike. I'm proud to have contributed to this project. You're really building a home for a lot of people in SoCal that really wouldn't have anywhere else without you. It might not make anyone rich with money, but you've made us all feel rich with community. I look forward to being there after the remodel to see what amazing things SA will become.